The Call to Community that took place in 1995 (Community Council Chapter) was one of the most significant moments in the life of the Northumbria community. It marked the beginning of a challenging and painful three year period of transition… (READ MORE)

At the heart of Northumbria Community you will find Celtic Daily Prayer (office) and A Way for Living (rule) both reflect the influence of the monastic tradition in the development of community ethos. For while the history and development of… (READ MORE)

In the garden of the Nethersprings, hidden beneath the trees, is a small wooden hut. There are no windows, the furniture is simple, a table, a chair and a candle. Of the many visitors who come to the Nethersprings, many… (READ MORE)

In August 1994, soon to be married Clare Underwood and Ant Grimley made a journey to Nethersprings to share their new dance production Brendan. Little did they know that they were bringing a ‘word from the Lord’ that would deeply… (READ MORE)

The intention of the NorthumbriaCommunity.com is to collect the many memories, stories, documents, letters, lectures, photographs – indeed any information that relates to the foundation of the Northumbria Community – and make this material available online. We are fortunate to… (READ MORE)

To get to the foundation of the Northumbria Community you have to dig deep, and dig we must, for if we become distant from our beginning, we are vulnerable to loss of meaning in the present and without direction for… (READ MORE)

Returning to Hetton …..After ten years …..…..long time…! Before coming back to Hetton my memories were moving in my heart and head like little whirlwinds. So many familiar faces, so many relived conversations and dance moments…..all good, all cherished times…. (READ MORE)

Ask for the old paths, the ancient paths, where the good way is, and you will find rest for your souls (Jeremiah 6v16) Set up waymarks for those who will return by this way (Jeremiah 31v21) In 1991 it was… (READ MORE)

Andy Raine Interview June 2009 In this 4 part interview Andy shares some of his memories of the Northumbria Community including the call to community, faithful friends and easter workshops. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

LEAVING HETTON HALL How do l feel leaving Hetton Hall…….? Mixed feelings……sad to see the end of a chapter, but remembering John’s prophecy a few years ago that the House would close, a Diaspora begin and the focus would be… (READ MORE)

When we left Northumbria I thought we were never coming back. I remember going down to St. Cuthbert’s Island to offer up to him the broken pieces of our departure, and then visiting the church at Bamburgh the site where St. Aidan died to… (READ MORE)

History is just so important and there are so many folk these days who just don’t realise how much! History tells us where we have come from, what influences have been at work to guide us on our way, what… (READ MORE)

Continuing from my last blog and the saga of ‘The Missing Album’ l mentioned in my last blog a missing photo album that detailed John, Andy and myself and our twenty year contribution to the community , the rediscovery and… (READ MORE)

The little boy went first day at school; he got crayons, and started to draw. He put colors all over the paper, for colors was what he saw. And the teacher said, “What are you doing young man?” “I’m painting… (READ MORE)

Easter Workshop 1980 SYMBOLIC MOVEMENT IN THE DAVIDIC TABERNACLE (John and Linda Skinner) 1) Windows in the Temple The Psalms act as a window for us, through which we can look, and watch the people of God in the act… (READ MORE)

Rocky by John Skinner 1977 There once was a rock whose name was ‘Rocky’… now Rocky was a rolling stone, but unlike some stones that had rolled about a bit, Rocky had gathered a lot of moss and got into… (READ MORE)

Am I my Brothers Keeper? Thomas was a bricklayer like his father before him. He was a good man, easy to get on with and difficult to find offensive, and whose obvious shortcomings were more than compensated by his… (READ MORE)

Émigré Connexion Facebook: Initiatives Émigré Initiatives are everyday attempts to work out in a down to earth kind of way how new monasticism, relates and interacts with various aspects of life, faith, and daily living. Some of the initiatives are… (READ MORE)

We are trying to find copies of the audio tapes from the internal émigrés lecture series Roy, Andy and I prepared which took place through out the winter months of 1991 at Old Bewick.This was just before we moved to… (READ MORE)

Émigré Ekklesia working towards the affirmation, location and formation of a new type of monasticism in the one holy catholic and apostolic Church We have begun a discussion on our New Monasticism Forum on the Émigré Initiative: Ekklesia. We are supporting the discussion… (READ MORE)

‘Getting up close and comfy’ As I said at the end of the last blog it has taken 25 years for a new type of monasticism and the Church, specifically but not limited to the UK to start getting up… (READ MORE)

Émigré Initiatives: a constructive subversion I went on retreat in the late 80’s to Emmanuel House in Clonfert with my good friend Ken Wise, the house was founded by our new friends Michael and Annette Cullen. They had left their… (READ MORE)

The single most important key to understanding the foundation of the Northumbria Community can be found in the crisis of faith that was the common experience of the few who first started out on the journey. Like most ordinary folk,… (READ MORE)

Lenten Desert: Myths Monsters Logosmoi An Imagination Exercise There are three simple elements that contribute to an imaginary journey: Imagination- Discernment – Mystery. We are going to kick off with an Imagination Exercise called: Peter’s Mother in Law Peter was… (READ MORE)

When Peter returned home and explained to his family he was joining Jesus on a preaching tour: What questions did Peter’s Mother-in-Law ask? Thanks to those of you who have joined us on this Imagination Exercise. We think it would… (READ MORE)

Before the time of computers and the internet, cars and motorcycles, electricity and steam, there lived a young man called Geordie. Geordie worked a farm, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, 52 weeks of the year. He lived… (READ MORE)

Geordie made the visit to the old church part of the regular rhythm of his life. Saturday night now involved a one hour walk to church; spending at least one hour in quiet waiting for that moment when it was… (READ MORE)

Geordie sat three days and three nights outside the monastery gate. The rain had stopped, but had left him soaked to the skin. He had wrestled with himself; torn between going back to the life he loved and understood and… (READ MORE)

The Desert Fathers Our story begins, not in the wild and woolly landscape of early Northumbria, but the remote desert regions of Egypt, Palestine, Arabia and at the beginning of the fourth century A.D. It is here that we encounter… (READ MORE)

Andy Raine rang last Thursday (April 7th 2011) to let me know Br. Roland Walls had gone to be with the Lord. In the days that followed I have been recalling memories of this dear man, my mentor and close… (READ MORE)

Logosmoi Hope you enjoyed the Geordie story. I created it from a mix of sayings from the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Although it is light hearted it has a serious theme. Logosmoi means ‘thoughts’ and the desert monks list a… (READ MORE)

Monsters (An introduction) I first heard the Monsters story during a lecture given by Mary Phipps at Lincoln Theological College in 1980. I thought then, as I have throughout the years, that it was a simple story with a profound… (READ MORE)

Monsters I plan to share some stories with you how various people I have known came to face their monsters. Please respect these stories because they are about real people who faced difficult and painful times in their lives and… (READ MORE)

Internal Émigrés: A New Type of Monasticism 1991 Old Bewick Northumbria In our studies of the Desert Fathers, we attempted to look at the ‘heart’ of monastic spirituality. To do so, we had to divorce ourselves from our contemporary understanding… (READ MORE)

Internal Émigrés: Communities of Hope 1991 John T. Skinner One of the problems of communication is the lack of consistency in the agreed use and meaning of words. Typical of this is our use of the word ‘community.’ Community is… (READ MORE)

Haunted by ghosts from the past The Desert Fathers discovered that the Logosmoi of Anger had the potential to make you hallucinate. When you marry Anger with Guilt you have the possibility of being haunted by ghosts from the past…. (READ MORE)

On 16th May 1985 John Skinner went to the then Bishop of Durham; David Jenkins and asked him to support and locate Secular/New Monasticism in the Church. Above is one of the papers John scribbled on to illustrate some points… (READ MORE)

Monsters (An introduction) I first heard the Monsters story during a lecture given by Mary Phipps at Lincoln Theological College in 1980. I thought then, as I have throughout the years, that it was a simple story with a profound… (READ MORE)

Geordie the Monk/The Bell Before the time of computers and the internet, cars and motorcycles, electricity and steam, there lived a young man called Geordie. Geordie worked a farm, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, 52 weeks of… (READ MORE)

THE NORTHUMBRIAN CHURCH I was at a lecture on Thursday by Professor Atkinson of Sheffield, talking about Martin Luther, and he pointed out that Luther was, at that stage, the last in a series of people who’d really sought to… (READ MORE)